Do you ever have weeks that you get all the coupons ready and then never get to the store? I have driven around with list, coupons and resuable shopping bags ready, for the last three days. Each time we are near a grocery store it just doesn’t fit for me to go in (usually it’s been late and kids have needed to get in bed).

After days of waiting, I’ll have to go tomorrow or else have nothing to feed guests on Sunday!

My husband went shopping this week though, and pretty much spent our entire grocery budget on some new additions to our family. Meet Spot, Brownie, and friends. In 4 months my egg buying days are over… for now I’m thinking I could have bought a lot of cage free eggs for the amount that their food and care have taken. I know a lot of that is upfront cost that won’t be repeated, but it still hurts a tad.

This is the first start in our attempts at homesteading. Next is to get our plants in the ground, and then my husband is already talking about goats…

For all of you that succeeded in getting into the store (and not just driving past it), how was your savings this week? Leave a comment or a link to your savings post.

One of my favorite childhood memories is visiting my grandmother’s farm and having fresh eggs from her hens for breakfast. Of course, Grandma served them up with lots of butter and salt so they were extra yummy. Your girls will have fun with this. Enjoy!

Tara

We <3 our dairy goats!

amandahazelwood

16 bars of Lever 2000 for $.81 at Walgreens!!!! :)

Donna

Ahh – to be young again and have your drive and energy. Bless you. You will do very well.

Kathleen Schultz

We are moving to the country in 2 weeks and I plan on having a nice, big garden ( like i remember my mom had when I was younger) and raising a few chickens for those fresh eggs. Good for you! I just wanted to say that i am so thankful to the lady that told me about southern savers! Your classes are the best.

miki

Please continue to update us on the chickies. We’d always talked about having egg-laying chickens, but haven’t done it yet. I’d love to learn more about it from your posts.

Soberkitty

I so wish I could do chickens! And don’t get me started on the Goats! I’m obsessed! Tell your husband if he starts a goat blog I will so follow it! We’re in a rental house with no fence, and an indoor outdoor cat! He’d probably loose an eye before he learned his lesson not to mess with the chickens! Lol. Keep us updated!

Charity Pratt

My husband just bought 6 egg laying chicks for our family last week! And I definitely understand that the upfront cost hurts. In terms of a budget, it felt like our entire food budget for the month! And he’s obsessed with goats :) Sounds like our families have a lot in common

Sue

We have had chickens for a couple years now. The eggs are great but it takes a lot more than I thought to keep up with them. Thankfully we found a local farmer who makes his own feed for cheaper than we can buy in a store. But recently we have lost about half our flock. We arent sure what it was this time. We have also had dogs attack and kill some (no leash law where chickens are allowed). :) its hard because we want them to get out into the yard where they should be but we are afraid of losing more. So for now, theyre staying in the now preditor proof run on the outside of their coup. :/

David Ballinger

Chickens are worth it, I have ALOT. The eggs are better than the grocery store eggs, by far! You get to have fun in raising them, and you CAN save a lot of money on them. If you live in Columbia SC or surrounding area, look at Reids or most feed stores for Orangeburg Milling Co feed, and Tractor Supplies will run coupons in ad’s and you can get some good deals there! good luck!

Lisa

I can’t wait for the day we buy a house with land. I so want a veggie garden and maybe some chickens.

Francophilex

Before you buy chickens, check with your local animal shelter! I know it sounds nuts, but our shelter in downtown Atlanta gets chickens all the time, and we have a goat right now! The urban farming fad means there are a lot of farm animals turning up at shelters. Adopting may be cheaper than buying, and you’ll be saving an animal that might otherwise be tough to place.

Kat

We have 3 chickens and we live them. They are actually very sweet and fun to watch. Your girls will enjoy feeding them different things and watching them play. Please keep us updated!

Jessie

You will have a blast with the chickens! My kids are in 4H and show chickens and it has been such a fun learning experience. We have had to be our own vet and fix chickens everyone had no clue how to fix! Just remember not all your chickens will lay everyday. In theory they should but in our flock it doesn’t happen!LOl If you can find a feed mill in your area that will be your cheapest route for feed.Good luck and have lots of fun!

dnsplus6

Be SURE you get guaranteed “pullets”/hens. You do NOT want roosters!! Prices Feed in Gilbert is taking orders now for “sexed” chicks. I highly recommend “Golden Comets” = great layers, great yard friends :)

squicken

we just had one of our roosters attack both of our children today…needless to say hes in the freezer…we got a straightrun group of Cornish crosses and ended up with 2 males that we thought would be okay to keep…yeah big mistake… pullets only :)

Sarah

Ohmygracious, they are so cute! I would love to have chickens one of these days, but it will have to wait until I finish school/live in a house.

squicken

we have 13 chickens right now with 6 chicks growing in the coop…along with 2 ducklings…they have been the best addition to our new home… ours are free range during the day and coop up themselves at night in the barn…we have lost a few to predators (most mean things wont come out during the day) but we always have a ‘cushion’ of up and coming chicks to account for the loss…we also have a bucket that ALL scraps go into to feed the girls and they get that every morning…so we go through a 50 lb sack of layer feed about every 6 weeks ($14.00)…the experience for my children is well worth the moola, saving it or not :) and chickens are hilarious :)

squicken

we have 13 chickens right now with 6 chicks growing in the coop…along with 2 ducklings…they have been the best addition to our new home… ours are free range during the day and coop up themselves at night in the barn…we have lost a few to predators (most mean things wont come out during the day) but we always have a ‘cushion’ of up and coming chicks to account for the loss…we also have a bucket that ALL scraps go into to feed the girls and they get that every morning…so we go through a 50 lb sack of layer feed about every 6 weeks ($14.00)…the experience for my children is well worth the moola, saving it or not :) and chickens are hilarious :)

MelindaNC

Isn’t it wonderful to find a place for all those veggie scraps. When we got our 5 hens, I noticed a vast difference in the amount of garbage we had. I still compost those things that are not good for the chicks or that they simply won’t eat.

Do the ducklings mingle with the chicks at the feeder or do they get their own feed? I was thinking of getting some ducks this year.
thanks,

squicken

there is a type of feed called flock raiser that is for everytype of bird really…we don’t do the medicated feed and the flockraiser is good until 20 wks…then we just mix in calcium for the layers or layer pellets if everybody is of age…I did the research on the medicated feed for under 8 weeks and the chicks have to be exposed to the coccidiosis for the meds to be effective…which most aren’t because they are raised inside on bedding etc…ours go out in the chicken run by themselves really from day one, so they are exposed and build up the resistance on their own…long story short-the flockraiser is good for turkey, duck, chicken

squicken

oh and a biggie…if you get ducks and do the medicated chick feed-the ducks will have to be separated…they eat too much food and overmedicate themselves and eventually can die from it…another reason for the flockraiser :)

Nelu

Hi,I only get time to look for deals on Saturdayas I am working full time during the week. So for me Friday finals list of everybody’s shopping is such a help than looking for all the products and deals in each store. But you remove this link in 1 to 2 days. Pls dont do that. I was just logging in and printing when it disserpierd.Having a different page for for pets is nice. But pls do not remove the Friday Finals til next Friday as it must be helping so many others who gets to do their shopping at the last minute.Specially with Publix it is such a great help.

Once you get a fresh brown egg from your chickens…6 months from now. You will NEVER buy store bought eggs no matter how cheap. We have a Poultry Business here in NC and sell baby chicks weekly and it is the best job ever…We LOVE Our CHICKENS and those little fuzzy butts too.

Ann

We have been homesteading for a while now and it is very rewarding! We raise chickens, ducks, goats and pigs. We have made our own incubator and the kids just love to hatch some of the eggs. The money is up front cost and in our state we were able to do a small farm deduction on our taxes and got back an extra $386. We have some video’s on Youtube on how to raise the animals cheaply and some things on how to prep cheaply. If your wanting to get some animals take a look, go to Youtube and type in hossitis

Amie

When I was a kid, my dad got a bunch of chicks. Some were slaughtered for meat which was a bad experience for all and some were laying hens. I loved the hens. It was so much fun collecting the eggs and caring for the hens. I tried to talk my husband into getting hens, but we live in a subdivision that is kind of plopped in the county a few miles outside city limits. My husband didn’t think it would be fair to the neighbors to hear crowing first thing in the morning and I really couldn’t argue. lol.

Melind

I suggest just buying hens. If you still want to have a male, I would recommend the Bantam. They are smaller and when they crow they sound soooooo cute. I don’t think that would disturb the neighbors. The bantams have a smaller egg size, more like a medium egg so that is the drawback.
I have 5 hens (2 Orpington & 3 New Hampshire Reds). No eggs today because they have been stressed by recent molting with this sporadic cold snaps.

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Hi, I'm Jenny!

I'm a stay at home mom of five girls. I started couponing with a lot of skepticism but was quickly saving our family over $400 a month! Now my goal is to make couponing easy and fun for everyone to save at least 50% off their household needs every week.
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